Robert Burns Wilson (American, primarily Kentucky, 1851 – 1916) landscape watercolor depicting a springtime meadow with stream foreground and rolling hills in the background, signed lower right: Robert Burns Wilson. Housed in a period original gilt and painted wooden print. Sight – 10 5/8" h x 21" W. Framed – 14 1/2" H x 25" W. Artist biography (courtesy Williams American Art Galleries): Robert Burns Wilson may be best known for his patriotic poem, Remember The Maine, which became the battle song for the United States during the Spanish American War. But he was primarily a painter. Wilson was born around 1851 in Parker, Pennsylvania. Orphaned at a young age, he spent his childhood in Virginia and West Virginia. In 1869, he left home with the desire to be an artist. He spent about a year traveling with a circus before settling briefly in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to study art. For a short time, he maintained a studio with John White Alexander, a prominent American artist known for his work in the Art Nouveau style. In 1871, he moved to Union City, Kentucky, but a few years later, in 1875, the possibility of portrait commissions lured him to Frankfort, Kentucky where he lived for approximately thirty years. In 1904, he moved to New York City. Wilson preferred to work in watercolor, oil, pastel and charcoal. He is best known for his depictions of animals and, beginning in the early 1880s, his landscapes. Provenance – Lexington, Kentucky area collection. Condition: Light scattered foxing to sky area. Some abrasions/wear to frame. CONDITION: Light scattered foxing to sky area. Some abrasions/wear to frame.